I Carry Your Heart
by sakuuya
Summary: A fairy tale. After Ichigo finds an unconsious young man outside her house, she embarks with him on a quest to save his soul. !2nd place in Immortal x Snow's Europe contest!


** I Carry Your Heart: A Fairy Tale**

I apologize for this. I expected to have all of Saturday to write it, but at the last minute I was guilted into something that _lasted for twelve freaking hours_. Ugh. I wasted my whole day and didn't get a darn thing done.

Oh, yeah. It's for **Immortal x Snow's contest**, which is why finishing it before tomorrow was so imperative. It's heavily based on Slavic folklore, but it doesn't follow any particular story, and I changed quite a lot of things around. It is, however, still very fairy-tale-esque in that, well, a lot of things don't have explanations. The research I did failed to turn up pretty much _any _explanations for the mythological elements that I appropriated for this story, and I wanted to preserve that rather than muddle everything up by trying to explain it.

Also: No matter what the timestamp says, I got this up on the 31st. With, like, five minutes to spare, even. XD

* * *

_here is the deepest secret nobody knows_  
_(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud_  
_and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows_  
_higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)_  
_and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart_

-ee cummings, "i carry your heart with me"

* * *

The hare was still moving when Ichigo came up to it. She had shot its head almost clear off, but still it convulsed unnaturally. She hesitated before touching it—there was something unsettling about it—and while she was still looking on curiously, the little furry body split open and a duck flew out.

Ichigo let out a yell of surprise and fell backwards into the snow. The duck looked at her for a moment, then moved to fly away. Regaining her wits, she jumped on the duck just as it was taking off and snapped its neck, thinking how strange it was for a duck to be this far north in the middle of winter. Nevertheless, she couldn't believe how lucky her hunting had been today, and after weeks of finding no meat, too.

After putting the dead duck and the split hare into her sack, Ichigo saw something shining in the snow. She picked it up and saw it was an egg that shone like silver. Marveling at its beauty, she failed to pay attention to where she was treading and walked right into a tree.

Or, at least, she thought it was a tree, but the trunk was scaly and orangeish, and, when she looked up, it never split into leafy branches, but just went up and up until it connected with the bottom of a wooden cottage.

Ichigo yelped, but realized that she must be dreaming. She hadn't questioned the duck-hare because she needed the meat, and had accepted the egg because it was so enchantingly beautiful. This house, though, could not be real. It was a story to scare children with, that was all! Ichigo was not a child, so she tamped down the fear in her heart, scrunched her eyes closed, and willed herself to wake up. When she opened them again, the chicken-legged cottage was still there.

She turned and ran, struggling through snow that seemed deeper than it had been a minute ago. As she ran, a shadow passed over her and, a moment later, a giant mortar landed in front of her.

Ichigo recoiled in horror, but a commanding voice said, "Look at me, child," and she had no choice but to obey.

Baba Yaga was much younger than Ichigo expected. The witch's face, though, lightly lined, was notable chiefly for how beautiful it was, even contorted in anger, and her long violet hair fanned out in the still air like a living thing. She stepped regally out of the mortar, all the while staring straight at Ichigo with her wild eyes.

"Did you kill my hare?" Baba Yaga demanded. Ichigo, her voice frozen, could only nod. "And my duck? Ah, well child, never let it be said that I'm not a forgiving person. If you give me the egg my duck laid, I won't eat you."

Immediately, Ichigo held out her hand, still not able to break Baba Yaga's gaze. The witch plucked the egg out of her grip with her long, sharp nails, climbed back into her mortar, and flew up to her house.

Even after the house had strutted off, leaving giant tracks in the snow, it took Ichigo a long time to be able to move again. She felt like her bones had turned to ice. Eventually, though, she regained the feeling in her body and trudged home, still trembling.

Once her door was securely barred, she started skinning the hare for stew. Part of her was worried about eating Baba Yaga's hare, but she really needed the meat. Besides, if the witch had wanted the carcass, she would have asked for it.

When the stew was simmering over the fire, Ichigo heard a muffled _thud_ outside her door. She peered out the front window, but it was by now too dark to see anything. She grabbed her rifle from where it leaned against the wall and threw the door open, ready to shoot any mythological beings who were trying to invade her home.

At first, she thought that there was no one there, but as she peered searchingly into the darkness, she saw someone lying face-down in the snow. After one more long look to make sure that no one was about to pounce on her, she dropped her gun and dragged the body inside. It was a young man, probably no older than her own twenty years, and he was alive, though unconscious. The strangest thing, though, was his clothes. Ichigo was wearing a simple tunic, trousers, and valenki [1]. This young man, by contrast, was dressed like an old-fashioned noble, all bright colors and rich fabrics. He wore no coat, but one of his hands clenched a thick fur muff, and long saber hung sheathed at his side. With great effort, she picked him up and carried him over to her bed, then went back to tending her soup.

A few weeks later, Ichigo had resigned herself to having the comatose young man as a permanent guest. She looked after him, kept him warm, and fed him as best she could, but he never showed any signs of life other than his slow, steady breathing. When he opened his eyes, she was on the other side of the cabin, sweeping. She didn't notice when he sat up and looked around, and only turned around when she heard his footsteps on the ground.

Surprised, she gave a little shriek and clutched her broom more tightly, as if to use it to fend him off. The young man looked shaky, and his steps faltered as he approached her, though he never fell. Ichigo hadn't realized it when he'd been laying comatose on her bed, but he was beautiful, with fine black hair and sparkling dark eyes. Coupled with his fine clothes, his beauty made Ichigo embarrassed for her own rough tunic and wild shock of red hair. She averted her eyes and pretended to go back to sweeping.

"Excuse me, miss, can you tell me where I am?" he asked in a soft Muscovite accent.

"You passed out in front of my cabin. You've been unconscious for weeks, sir, and you still don't look so good. Please go back to bed."

He shook head. "I cannot. I was searching for something very important when you found me, and I've already lost too much time." He grabbed his muff from her mantle and stumbled toward the door.

"Wait!" Ichigo yelled on impulse. She was honestly surprised when the young man turned back around, steadying himself on the doorframe. "What are you looking for? M-maybe I can help you find it..."

The young man smiled thinly. "I highly doubt it. You see, I'm looking for my heart." He rapped his hand against his chest, which thudded hollowly. "I hid it inside a silver egg, inside a duck, inside a hare—" Ichigo's hands flew to her mouth.

"I didn't know! Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"What are you babbling about?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous.

"I-I had it, the day I found you. B-but..." She bit her lower lip, not wanting to continue. " I g-gave it to B-Baba Yaga..." At his startled look, she added, sobbing, "I-I didn't know what it was! She was going to eat me! Sir, I'm so, so sorry!"

His dark eyes seemed to contract to pinpoints, leaving a circle of icy blue in their wake even as the color drained from his skin. "You did _what?_" he roared. "You stupid peasant, I ought to..."

As he advanced on her, Ichigo cowered, expecting blows that never came. When she got the courage to look up, the young man was at the doorway again, hunched over and shaking violently. She wanted to see if he was all right, but caution kept her back.

"I'm sorry..." she muttered again. When he raised his head, his face looked drawn and ashen, but his eyes were normal again.

"No, I'm sorry," he said with apparent difficulty. "You couldn't have known, and I would have done the same thing in your place." He straightened himself up. "But if Baba Yaga has my heart, it's more imperative than ever that I get it back. Again, I apologize for snapping at you, and I thank you for taking care of me while I was indisposed." He bowed low to her (almost falling over in the process), opened her door, and stepped out into the midday sun.

When he was more than half a mile away from her cabin, Ichigo caught up with him. She was dressed for the cold, though spring was fast approaching, and on her back was a pack of food and water, as well as her hunting rifle. The young man was surprised to see her, but she just smiled.

"Look, sir, I feel awful about what I did, and you're in no shape to go anywhere by yourself. Let me help you."

He eyed her up and down. "Thank you," he said finally, sounding exhausted. "I don't know if you'll be any help, but I appreciate the company. My name is Masaya." He took one bare hand out of his muff and extended it toward her.

"Ichigo," she replied, shaking his hand. "Do you know where we're going?"

It was several days' travel to Baba Yaga's forest, and by the time they got there, Ichigo was no longer nervous around Masaya. Since that first day he'd woken up, he hadn't so much as raised his voice to her, and in fact had been nothing but gallant and pleasant. Ichigo, who considered his plight her fault, was relieved that he wasn't holding a grudge, even if she didn't think she needed his protection. No, if anything, he was the one who needed her: As they traveled, Masaya slowly got weaker, and Ichigo watched him with growing concern.

He did seem to know where he was going, though. His sense of direction never faltered (even when his steps did), and eventually the pair came to Baba Yaga's forest. In the plains, the snow was melting and grass was beginning to peek through, but the witch's forest was still trapped in the dead of winter, and it was noticeably colder among the trees than it had been outside. But the strange weather wasn't nearly as unnerving as the silence. If any animals lived here, they were very quiet about it; Ichigo, whose ears were keen, never heard so much as a rabbit once she entered the woods. There was no way of telling where Baba Yaga might be, as her house was mobile, so the two of them picked a direction and forged ahead, figuring that that gave them as good a chance as anything else to find the witch.

Around midday, they stopped to rest in a clearing. No sooner had Ichigo sat down against the trunk of a tree than the roots wrapped around her body, trapping her in place. She screamed as her bonds tightened. Upon hearing her, Masaya ran over to her as fast as he could and started hacking at the roots with his saber. Despite his growing weakness, he cut through the thick roots around Ichigo's arm with a single blow, and together they managed to free her.

Ichigo caught a fleeting glimpse of a small figure on a big horse before the trees around her all went crazy, slashing and clawing at her with their branches. She and Masaya dashed to the center of the clearing, as far out of the trees' reach as they could get. He slashed at them with his sword; she whacked them away with the butt of her rifle.

"Little boy!" Ichigo called to the rider, who was barely visible through the whirling branches. "I have some tyanuchka [2] in my bag, and I'll give it to you if you help us!"

And just like that, the trees calmed themselves.

The rider, who seemed to have no trouble maneuvering his huge horse through the forest, came over to them. He really was a little boy, with disheveled red hair and not nearly enough clothes for the wintery forest. His horse was white, and much too big for such a small rider, although he seemed to be managing all right.

"Were you the one making those trees attack us?" Ichigo demanded as she handed over the wrapped squares of tyanuchka. The rider grinned toothily.

"I'm supposed to keep people out of the forest," he said through a big mouthful of candy, "but you're nice for an old lady. What are you doing here?"

"I need to find Baba Yaga. Can you help me?"

"Well, I guess I can help you out, since you shared your candy with me. But I can't take you too far: I don't want the witch getting mad at me, y'know. What're you waiting for? Come on!"

Neither Ichigo nor Masaya knew whether the rider was leading them in the right direction, but over Masaya's protests (_he obviously works for Baba Yaga__. He tried to kill us, for goodness' sake!_), Ichigo trusted him. They followed him through the forest for a few hours before he stopped.

"Sorry, lady, this is as far as I can go. The witch's house should be that way, across the river" he said, pointing off into the woods. "You're crazy for coming all this way to see her, but good luck anyway."

Ichigo and Masaya headed off in the direction he indicated until they came to the river. The water was deep and swift (and freezing, probably, though Ichigo was in no hurry to find out for sure) without any obvious way to cross. Upriver, Ichigo could _just_ make out a bridge, barely more than a line amidst the trees. The walk there was long—not to mention rather out of their way—but as long as they stayed near the bank, they didn't have to worry about avoiding trees, which was a welcome change after spending all morning navigating the forest.

In front of the bridge was another rider, a green-haired adolescent atop a flame-red horse. This rider didn't seem to notice the two of them until they were right in front of him, but then he leered down at Ichigo.

"If you want to cross my bridge, Kitten, you'll need to pay the toll," he said with a smirk. Masaya stepped in front of Ichigo, slid a ring off one of his fingers, and held it out to the horseman.

"Here. This should be worth more than enough."

The rider laughed, showing sharp teeth. "What would I want with that, little man? I'm out here all by myself; what possible use would I have for gold? No, the toll for this bridge is a night with the lovely girl behind you."

Masaya reddened and held his arms out protectively, but Ichigo stepped around him. She lifted her rifle and fired a warning shot far above the horseman's head. His fiery horse reared; Ichigo stepped away from its flailing hooves. She levered out the spent cartridge, then leveled the gun again.

"You'll get no such thing. Let us through."

The rider's tawny eyes were fixated disbelievingly on the rifle. "You can't bring that into Baba Yaga's woods!" he admonished, but when Ichigo failed to lower her gun, he turned and galloped away, across the bridge. "You sure you don't want to reconsider, Kitten?" he called over his shoulder even as he disappeared into the trees.

Ichigo kept her gun at the ready, and Masaya drew his saber as they crossed the bridge, wary that the second horseman might circle around and attack them. But they entered the trees on the other side without incident.

Once they were back in the forest proper, darkness fell quickly, though the sun had still been high in the sky when they had crossed the river. They put their weapons away, as holding them was more of a liability than an asset when they had to feel their way around. Without a light source, they stumbled through the trees, now quite lost and spurred on only by the thought that they must be getting close.

"Excuse me, are you lost?" a voice asked from the darkness. Both Masaya and Ichigo whirled to face the speaker, who turned out to be yet another horseman. This one was fully grown and riding a horse that blended into the darkness so well that Ichigo was only half-sure that there was a horse there at all. The rider himself gave off an unearthly glow that somehow didn't illuminate his surroundings at all.

"Yes, actually," Ichigo said, relieved that this new horseman wasn't eyeing her like she was a piece of meat. "We're looking for Baba Yaga's cottage. Would you know where it is?"

The rider smiled, though the expression looked stiff. "Of course. I can lead you there, but only if the heartless man rides with me."

By the time Ichigo dimly realized that she had never introduced her companion, let alone told the horseman of his quest, Masaya had grabbed her hand and pulled her into the darkness.

"Do you know that man?" Ichigo asked as they ran, narrowly avoiding tree after tree as their eyes adjusted.

"No, but if he knows why I'm here, then he can't be up to any good. I'd prefer not having to fight him in my condition." And, indeed, as they continued to run, Masaya slowed down more and more until Ichigo was supporting most of his weight. She was swift and strong, but the journey had been tiring, and eventually she stopped to lean against a tree. Her leggings were torn from running through brambles in the pitch darkness, and she could feel her legs bleeding sluggishly. It was too dark to tell for sure, but she imagined Masaya was in even worse shape.

Together, in the silent darkness, they slumped down, breathing heavily. Ichigo's ears were filled with the sound of her own heartbeat, but beyond that, she thought she heard hoofbeats.

"Shh!" she cautioned, but Masaya must have heard it as well, for he suddenly stood up straight, though she could see that he was still resting much of his weight on the tree.

"Run, Ichigo," he said hoarsely. "I'm the one he's after, and you'll be able to get away if you don't have to carry me."

"I can't just abandon you!"

"You brought me this far, which is more than I could have possibly hoped. Now get out of here before that rider finds us!"

She hefted his arm over her shoulders and, they made their careful way farther into the forest, powered by sheer willpower. Somehow, after what felt like a year of dragging themselves through trees, they stumbled upon Baba Yaga's cottage, completely by accident.

Ichigo almost dropped Masaya in surprise. The chicken-legged house was as strange as it had been when she first saw it, but now it was surrounded by a fence made of what looked like human bones. A gray dawn was beginning to filter through the trees, throwing the whole grisly yard into sharp relief.

Despite her revulsion, Ichigo sat Masaya down against a tree trunk and went to find a way in. The poor young man was nearly unconscious. Ichigo circled the whole cottage twice before returning to him.

"Masaya, wake up! There's no door, and I don't know what to do!" she hissed. His eyes opened a fraction.

"Hut, O hut, turn your back to the woods, your front to me!" he yelled. His voice sounded like death itself, but the house obediently turned around to reveal a door, and even bent down to allow them access. With an incredible display of effort, Masaya heaved himself onto his feet and stumbled over to the door, with Ichigo following concernedly behind him.

He all but fell through the door, brandishing his saber and demanding, "Give me back my heart!"

Baba Yaga was sitting in a rocking chair, just staring at him. In her hand was a silver egg.

"Not until you quit hiding behind that ridiculous human form," she said, her voice surprisingly smooth.

She gave the egg a shake, and Masaya fell to the floor, moaning in pain. The color drained from his skin, and his irises contracted to pinpoints inside new circles of icy blue. His fingernails, which Ichigo had kept meticulously trimmed, sprouted into long claws, and his ears lengthened into strange, alien points.

Whatever Baba Yaga had done to him, it seemed to give him back some of his strength, as he picked himself off of the floor without any apparent difficulty.

"There, that's better," the witch said smugly. "Now, I'm giving up a big investment here, but I'll make you a deal, my pet: You can work for me forever, or I can give you your heart back. All you have to do is kill the girl. What do you say?"

Masaya's strange new face contorted into a smile. He grabbed Ichigo by the arm and tossed her out into the snow. He slammed the cottage door behind him on his way out as Ichigo scrambled away from him.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "You're not Masaya!"

"Oh, but I am," the monster replied coldly as he advanced. Whoever this person in Masaya's body was—and Ichigo refused to believe that the man she had travelled with would be willing to kill her so casually—he was _fast_, and he struck out like a wolf, grabbing Ichigo with his clawed hands. Despite herself, she trembled in his grip. "Despite all that, you were kind to me when you thought I was helpless," he breathed, trailing one claw down Ichigo's tearstained cheek, "and I owe you a debt of gratitude. Run." He pushed her away and walked back into the chicken-legged hut without looking back.

For the second time in as many seasons, Ichigo was frozen in place. When she could move again, she wiped the tears from her eyes and started walking back the way she had come.

No. She couldn't abandon Masaya to a lifetime of slavery, no matter how scary he was now. He had, after all, saved her life, so he must still care about her. She ran back to the cottage, which had locked itself up again.

"Hut, O hut, turn your back to the woods, your front to me!" Again, the cottage revealed its door and knelt down, and Ichigo barged right in, more gracefully than Masaya had, her rifle at the ready.

Inside, Baba Yaga was screaming furiously, her violet hair streaming behind her as she rained blows down on Masaya, who took the abuse unresistingly.

"Let him _go_," Ichigo growled.

The witch turned, surprised, and Masaya saw his opportunity. He reached a pale hand into her apron-pocket and pulled out a silver egg. Immediately, Baba Yaga whirled on him, but he raised the egg to his forehead.

"If I break this, I'll die, and you'll never own me again, Baba Yaga."

"Don't you dare!" Ichigo interjected before the witch had time to speak. "You can't kill yourself over _her_. You came all this way! Please, Masaya, she's not worth it!"

"All right!" Baba Yaga said, throwing up her hands. "You can go. In the fullness of time, I'm sure we'll see each other again, after all." But Masaya moved to strike the egg against his forehead. "No!" the witch shrieked. "How can you betray the old gods like this? There are so few of us left, and our power is weakening by the day. Look at what mortals can bring into my _personal _woods!" she gestured at Ichigo's gun. "Do you want the old ways to die?"

Masaya smiled his strange smile and cracked the silver egg against his head. The last thing Ichigo saw was a flash of light before she was knocked cold.

When Ichigo woke, she was lying in a clearing a much warmer forest, and Baba Yaga was nowhere in sight. She sat up groggily, aching all over, and when a warm hand touched her shoulder, she screamed.

"It's all right," a familiar voice said happily. "It's just me." The hand trailed down her arm as Masaya stepped into her field of vision. He looked as she first saw him, with dark skin and sparkling eyes.

"But... Your heart! I thought you died!" Masaya just smiled.

"In a way, I guess I did. I'm mortal now. But as for my heart, it's somewhere Baba Yaga will never be able to get it."

He laid a hand softly on her chest, as she leaned up to kiss him.

* * *

**Cultural Notes:**

1. Valenki are felt boots. They're good insulators, but not waterproof, so they're typically worn with galoshes. Ichigo really should take them off when she's inside.

2. Tyancuchka is a toffee-like candy made from sugar and cream.


End file.
